The ability to earn an income can enable a person to live a comfortable lifestyle, while saving for future circumstances. Due to illness or injury, however, a person can lose his or her ability to earn an income for a brief or prolonged period of time, which can destroy future plans dependent on continuing income.
While various options exist for supplementing income during a period of disability, many of these options are insufficient for supplementing income over an extended period of disability. For example, while some employers may provide disability insurance, the benefit amount and coverage length of that insurance may be insufficient to meet one's needs. To receive social security a disabled person must meet a strict definition of disability. Worker's compensation is not applicability unless the disability was caused by a workplace incident. Personal, retirement, or education savings or a home equity loan can be quickly depleted and insufficient for longtime needs, and use of these savings can negatively affect future plans. A home equity loan can quickly deplete long sought equity in one's property. A credit card cash advance can impose high interest rates, leading to further financial difficulties in the future. Disability insurance, in contrast to the above options, can guarantee income during a short or long period of disability without negatively impacting a disabled person's future plans. However, the task of identifying an appropriate disability insurance policy can be daunting for those who are unfamiliar with disability insurance.
Therefore, there is a need for an effective means of recommending disability insurance to assist individuals in preparing for the future. In an exemplary embodiment, a disability insurance selection system can provide prompts to a client directed toward identifying an appropriate disability insurance package and can recommend a disability insurance package based on a client's responses to the prompts. It is to such a disability insurance selection system that various embodiments of the present invention are directed.